Council says Filey spending ‘is fair’

Published:11:59Friday 14 September 2012

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Scarborough Council said new capital spending figures debunk the idea that Filey is Scarborough’s “poor relation”.

The council released figures to the Mercury after it emerged that the founding members of the Fight 4 Filey community group have lodged an official complaint to the council over what they perceive as “scandalous” levels of investment in the town.

Figures released by the council show that, for the current financial year, 12.1 per cent of the total spend for the borough was in Filey, while the population of Filey makes up only 6.25 per cent of the borough.

However, of that 12.1 per cent, only around a third of that is earmarked for individual projects in the town, with the rest of the money designated for projects that benefit both Filey and the rest of the Borough.

And Hilary Jones, Scarborough Council’s strategic 0fficer, said it was “misleading” to say that projects in Scarborough offered no benefit to those in Filey adding: “It just happens to be that Scarborough is larger, both geographically and in terms of population, and therefore has and can support larger assets.

“For that reason it also follows that Scarborough is more likely to attract a larger slice of investment from the private sector and other public sector funding pots, with projects such as The Sands, the Spa and Rotunda examples of that.

“We certainly do not regard Filey as a poor relation. Indeed, we would be more than happy to listen to ideas from Fight 4 Filey about how and where investment could be targeted, but basic economics dictate it has to be sustainable and in the current financial climate capital spend is very restricted.

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